tripleultrasuperboostplusplus

@BenPea: "high-quality salt crystals" NaCl = NaCl = NaCl = NaCl = NaCl every day of the week, whether it's "Himalayan" pink, ocean blue, or snow white. I don't think anyone's selling or eating "discount, low quality salt crystals".

I've been using this helmet for about a month, size XL, black. Here's my feedback: Pros: light weight (only 14g heavier than the ancient half shell I was using) fits my Q-tip head very well extra coverage thicc foam for crash protection super secure fit feeling fixed ear loops are never a worry for strap fit, hold earbud wires in place, don't block hearing looks pretty damn cool to me excellent magnetic buckle Cons: a little bit hotter than other helmets (though not always a con in the Pacific Northwest) thinner exoshell and visor than many other helmets (probably for weight reduction) fixed visor location price: damn! bigger for packing, closer to full-face size My favorite aspect is the secure fit from having more helmet wrap my head. Other than better rear coverage, I'm not sure the helmet is significantly more safe from what amounts to fixed ear loops. I just like the loops for their secure, fixed position out of my ears when compared to straps, and for the way that part hugs the contour of my head. The warmth of the helmet can be an advantage, but I don't think I'll choose to use this one for my biggest climbing rides unless I tie it to my pack on the way up. Oh, and for the MIPS freaks, I'm not particularly worried about the lack of it here. A well-designed helmet has a smooth-enough exoshell to rotate just fine when you hit the dirt, rock, or tree. Unless you're running one of those sticky kids' rubber Mohawk helmets or some unique shape that gets jammed between rocks, you likely won't get much additional benefit from MIPS.

"Honey, where's my Nexus Card?"

Same here. Terribly painful five days in the hospital. But the dilaudid was fun.

bike looks pregnant

Continuing your point toward the fanny-pack, it just doesn't make good sense to strap on all your junk and make an impact fulcrum across your lower back.

I've tried it all over the years, and I prefer to keep my bike light and snappy and carry everything in my trusty ol' expandable hydration backpack. I won't even strap a tube to my frame. There's something immensely fun to me about keeping the steed as raw and unencumbered as possible, whipping it around climbing turns and throwing it any whichway during airtime.

I'm not a fan of 2.6" either. In my experience, there was just more weight and more balloon to pop. And they popped constantly, ruining a lot of rides. Back to 2.3" and my tire dependability returned immediately.

Great progress. I have great hopes you'll continue to improve. We're all different, but my story is quite similar. I had a single headache last 11 months after mine. I still have some mild memory problems, but I work around them. It was a horrible and exhausting experience, but I kept fit riding some easy trails from the start and now I'm back to hitting just about anything I want, riding better than ever, enjoying it thoroughly, yet being a bit safer with my decision-making on the trails.

@trainingfx: Read up on whiplash concussions.